How to cook the ham/gammon joint, There are no instructions on the pack!

[mumbear]

Erm nothing to explain really!! Just lookin for how long to boil per kilo and if you put anything in the water to flavour. Its one think ive never cooked before and the guidelines online vary a hell of a lot.

I boil mine with a bayleaf, bit of carrot, celery and a onion chopped in half.

I usually put it in the saucepan on its own first, bring to the boi and chuck that water, then add the other ingredients I stated above and boil 1 hour for each kilo in weight.

If you stick a knife into the middle if its done, it will slide back out easily.

I've just checked Delia!

She says in general the cooking time for joints is 25 mins per pound (450g) and for whole hams 15-20 mins per pound (450g).

Thank you!!

Have you got a slow cooker?

5/6 hours on low with just a few tablespoons of water in with it.

Melts in the mouth.

I boil them in cider, with onions & various other stuff in it (Nigella recipe). It makes a fantastic gravy to pour over the ham afterwards.

I bring to the boil then take out of the pan and roast for 20 mins per pound. That's what delia says.

Deck - if you use a slow cooker does the ham turn out a bit salty as the salt won't have boiled of into the water?

They can be very salty - I usually soak overnight in several changes of cold water before cooking.

am I too late??

How to cook a show stopping ham......

Take your ham, rinse it and put it in a very large pan with an onion stuck with cloves and boil it for an hour and a half, while its cooking you can sort out the fancy bits. I use honey,grainy mustard and a squeeze of orange juice, or you can use black treacle,straight honey with your orange slices a la margerite patten, basically something a bit sugary, with a touch of heat if you like it.
take your ham out of the pan and peel the outer skin off with the help of a sharp knife - leave the white fat underneath it alone! score the fat in a diamond pattern and spike a few of the crosses with cloves, then paint on your chosen glaze , bake the ham in a hot oven with a foil hat on until it is cooked through , then take off the foil, paint with your glaze again and replace in the oven (if you're doing the orange slices, put them on at this point as well),roast until you like the colour of it basically!

If you have a slow cooker it cooks mush nicer.

If you are doing in oven you can cover in mustard and then sprinkle with sugar. DH hates mustard but still loves gammon done in it!

Not sure if you can do the mustard thing in slow cooker? Never tried it?

I boil my ham, discard the water, boil it again, cook it for ages (c 4-6 hours, depending on the size - I get big joints on the bone) at a very gently simmer, then remove it from the stock, take off the rind, score the fat, rub it in a mixture of soft brwon sugar and colmans dry mustard powder, stud it with cloves and then bake it for an hour, basting it with coke.

Yummy!

I tried nigella's ham in cola the other week and it was fantastic. (Similar to above except simmer in coke)Definately worth looking up!

cyanarasamba - mine doesn't turn out particularly salty, but you could always soak it the day before.

Sorry for the delay in replying.....the house chimney caught fire, and I've had 5 firemen tramping about!

Anybody know if the cola works in a slow cooker?

i pre slow boil my smoked gammon joint from cold water, as it comes to a boil, i place joint on a plate, then drain water and wash pot out then rinse joint under cold water and repeat once again to reduce the smoke salt content. then once pot cleaned and joint rinsed off, return joint to pot add about 2 litres of pineapple jiuce, cheap carton will be ok, add half jar or more of cranberry jelly and 16 pepper pods plus some bayleaves, bring to a gentle boil then reduce to a slow simmer for 20 minutes to each 450g [one pound] in weight. mines 2.7kg so simmer for 1 hour 40 minutes [100 minutes] then turn heat off and rest in water to cool for 1 hour. then with sharp knife cut skin off and leave about half depth thickness of fat on joint, criss cross the fat, chop 2 garlic cloves into small pieces to push into each diamond fat grooves. most sites say mix clear honey with english mustard untill smooth but i use clear honey and cranberry jelly, about half a jar etc. then use half to glaze gammon joint. preheat oven fan 160 or 170, cover hoint well with foil and roast for 20 minutes then remove foil reglaze with remaing glaze and roast for another 20 to 25 minutes or untill golden colour. i rather just under cook my joint so it dosent dry out too much. the cranberry and pineapple gives it a nice sweet flavour. i also use some the water from the boiling into the baking tray. they say line your tray with foil to catch the juices etc. i follow the hairy biker boys recipe for a guideline